Laundry in a Closet?

I think it must be frustrating for the hubby and the architect to downsize a room they don't use all the time and just assume that you, the chief laundry-doer, will manage. You don't know how you feel about it, but they're moving ahead with plans?

I think keeping a sink in the laundry area is a good start. You mention a drying rack, and I think it might help to look into a fold-up or recessed laundry rack that folds out as needed as opposed to a stand-on-the-floor rack. Perhaps if it folded out over the sink, that would work well for drip-drying. That depends, of course, on how much you have to hang up on a daily basis. There are also those retractable clotheslines like they have in hotel rooms, or a closet rod (which I have). My laundry is in a slight closet - there's no sink, but there is room for a tall hamper between the wall and the open dryer door, along with 2 shelves and a closet rod. There is room for us to stand in there while loading the washer too. There's not a lot of folding space except the top of the washer and dryer though. I don't have a drying rack although I do hang a few things from hangers (like lingerie which I wash on the gentle cycle but don't put in the dryer). We don't have a pocket door due to the location in a back hall and near the back door, but if I wee redesigning the space the way you are, I would look at a pocket door Another factor would be whether you have hampers in any of the bedrooms or whether all dirty laundry gets carried to the laundry room on a daily basis - if the latter, you need a lot more room than a closet. My husband does most of the laundry since he is a runner and has a lot of sweaty stuff. We rarely wash blankets because they are between a sheet and a bedspread so don't get dirty, dusty or sweaty at all. If I were doing a lot of linens and blankets for a family though, I would think more room would be important.

Still, having a bigger kitchen and better flow for everyone would be a real plus.

I do my laundry in my basement. If I had a real first floor laundry room, I would NEVER give it up and downsize to a closet. In fact, I don't think I would give up my laundry in the basement for a first floor closet. I need space to sort and hang to dry and toss the sheets, towels etc in a pile if someone is sick and I need to move fast. I would put hubby in charge of the laundry if he insists on this plan. I'm guessing the Europeans would prefer a room to a closet, if they had the space.

I have what you currently have. NO way I would go to a closet. Don't you stash stuff in there when guests come by unexpectedly? I do. I throw wet gear in there, snowsuits, stuff I will deal with later, etc. I would miss that.

My friends with closet laundry have it on their upper floors - because they couldn't put a laundry room upstairs (weren't willing to sacrifice a bedroom or bathroom). It was a luxury to have upstairs. Their landings are cluttered with laundry - but no one can see it as upstairs.

For me personally - it would be a no.

I have a friend who once owned a Murphy Bed (bed that folds into wall storage) in a small apartment because she thought it would give her more space - every morning she could fold up her bed and use her full space for entertaining etc. But, life was busy, and reality became that the bed just stayed down in place like a "normal bed".

I foresee a similar thing happening in your situation with this "remodeling". I bet you'll end up keeping the sliding doors closed and the closet open - also known as, a laundry room!

The situations in which I have known of the concept of washer/dryer in a closet working well (a closet too small to stand inside, not a room) have been small apartments or vacation homes where laundry is not very much and not done very frequently. In your situation, a laundry room really seems to make more sense.

My laundry is in a closet and I have a system a lot like yours. I grew up with a laundry room so I thought it was odd at first but now that I’m used to it, I really don’t find it to be a big deal. It does mean that I have to keep up with things. I can’t leave a load of unfolded laundry lying around because there is no closed room to hide it in. But that’s ok, it keeps me from procrastinating and I do 1 load every day to keep it from accumulating.

My laundry closet is big enough that I have a full size washer and dryer side by side and a large shelf above it that holds my detergents, a small trash can (for easy disposal of dryer lint) and a laundry basket that I use for kitchen cleaning towels, bathroom hand towels, etc, that I collect over time and wash periodically. Every room has its own hamper for clothes. When I do sheets, I pull them off the bed and put them straight into the washer. When they are done, I put them back on the bed so they don’t lay around either. I set up the drying rack in my bedroom on days that I wash delicates.

ish. i dunno. i like having a laundry room, even though i have to go downstairs to the basement to access my laundry. our washer and dryer in our starter home were in the kitchen behind a closet door, and it felt cluttered.

well, it WAS cluttered. it was a small kitchen already.

if your newly designed galley kitchen will be so large that it won't impede the flow, and the laundry 'closet' is actually so large that you can work effectively inside it, it could work.

but it's a lot of ifs. i'd have to see it, of course, but i'd be skeptical.
khairete
S.

Our laundry room is not large but I wouldn't call it a closet.
It has a sink and a few cupboards.
I think if it has a sink it's not really a closet space - just a smaller laundry room.
In our old house we had the washer and dryer in a closet behind bi fold doors and next to the water heater.
While it wasn't a problem (had to move washer and dryer out of the way to replace the water heater) - I much prefer having the washer/dryer in a more open space (laundry room) even if the room is small.

Laundry room and walk in pantry are not fancy areas although people like to close them off - can you combine them into one close off-able space?
A wall mounted drying rack that folds flat against the wall when not in use might be useful.
Sometimes people will have washer and dryer right in the kitchen and not hide them at all.

It's hard to picture your layout without seeing it.